This is subject to approval by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

'ELX is poised in the next few months to deliver a high-velocity, cost-effective electronic platform with a modern rule set that will benefit all market participants,' says chief executive Neal Wolkoff.

'This combination offers a highly competitive alternative for today's technology-empowered market participants seeking to access a broad range of exchanges and pools of liquidity.'

The CFTC appears likely to complete its review of ELX's designated contract market application in early Spring, Wolkoff says. Comprehensive system testing and mock trading sessions are scheduled for May, opening the way for live trading in quarterly Treasury futures contracts to begin in June.

ELX has been built on BGC Partners' eSpeed electronic trading platform, which is in use by financial institutions for trading multiple assets, including US Treasury cash markets and European government bonds.

Current users of the eSpeed application will have direct access to futures trading on ELX.

'We are very pleased with the strong interest in connecting to ELX and are working with a broad range of institutions and technology providers to prepare for live trading,' Wolkoff says.

Clearing and delivery services for ELX will be provided by the Options Clearing Corporation. The National Futures Association, the self-regulatory organisation for the US futures industry, will provide market surveillance and oversight for the new exchange.